Hiking Quilotoa

Our situation on the bus ride

This weekend we were feeling more adventurous and headed out to Quilotoa- a lagoon that, according to legend, has no bottom. We arrived in Latacunga and caught a bus last minute to the city of Quilotoa. Maddy and Taryn sat behind the drive and I sat on the engine hood. The men in the doorway felt more than comfortable pressing their squishy butts against my legs and I kept trying to adjust my position on the hot engine hood. About five minutes into the ride, the bus stopped at a police checkpoint and the driver turned to his assistants in the door and said "What do I do? What do I do!" I thought that was weird, but we got through the checkpoint and five minutes after that the bus stopped and the driver switched with one of the men in the doorway. He quickly showed the man where the brake was, how to open the door, and which gear the clutch usually got stuck on. Maddy, Taryn and I stared wide-eyed at this situation and sat there frozen, contemplating if we should get off the bus or not. We decided to stay and after a while, I asked the first driver why he couldn't finish the trip. He looked at me like I was crazy and said that he had had five beers before the trip- how could he possibly drive? I nodded and just went along with the strange situation I had gotten myself into.

After driving over the icy mountain pass, the bus stopped in the outskirts of the town Zimbahua. All the passengers were confused and I asked the bus driver what happened. He shrugged and said they ran out of gas. How they run out of gas on a trip they take three times a day is a mystery to me. The three of us grabbed our backpacks and made the trek into the town center where we found a decent hostel with hard pillows and not-quite-cold showers.

The next morning we ate a breakfast of chicken and beets and grabbed a camioneta to Quilotoa. We found a hostel on the edge of the crater. We packed up ready for the big hike and headed out in the cold wind. The lagoon is absolutely amazing with the jagged sides and the turquoise water. We hiked down the steep path to the water- where we thought the hike started. We got to the bottom and asked a guide where the trail started. He gave us a weird look and told us the hike was around the top which meant another hour hiking straight uphill. Oops. Once at the top, we realized we didn't have enough time for the hike so we hung out at the hostel.

We woke up really early again the next morning and headed out. The hike was gorgeous but pretty difficult. Many times we were inches from the edge with a strong wind blowing us around. When we finished six hours later, we ate some chicken kabobs and met a couple who offered to drive us all the way to Latacunga. This weekend was a nice change of pace from the farm and I loved the amazing scenery. I completely recommend this hike to anyone going to Ecuador!!